Service-meter for telephone-exchanges.



No. 68l,860. Patented Sept. 3, l90l.

G. E. SCRIBNER.

SERVICE METER FOR TELEPHONE EXCHANGES.

(Application filed Jun. 12, 1901.]

(N0 M odel.)

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UNITED STATES "PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES E. SCRIBNER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE WESTERNELECTRIC COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

SERVICE-METER FOR TELEPHONE-EXCHANGES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 681,860, datedSeptember 3, 1901.

Application filed January 12, 1901. Serial No. 42,964. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. SCRIBNER, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Service Meters forTelephone-Exchanges, (Case No. 4:92,) of which the following is a full,clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to a measured-service telephone-exchange system,and has for its object to provide an improved organization of circuitsand apparatus for a telephone-exchange system whereby each connectioncompleted at the central office between a callingline and another linemay be recorded and a signal simultaneously displayed indicating thatsuch record has been made.

A further object is to provide means for automatically recording thenumber of connections completed by each operator.

My invention is particularly applicable to measured-service systemswherein an electrically-operated meter or connection-register isassociated at the central office with each telephone-line whose serviceis to be measured. This register may be connected with a localswitchboard-circuit which is associated with the subscribers line andwhich is adapted to be completed by conductors in the operatorsplug-circuit when connection is made with the line by plugging into thespring-jack terminal thereof. In association with theconnection-register I provide a signal device in a local circuitcontrolled by the register, so that when a connection is recorded thecondition of the local circuit is changed and the signal operated, thusindicating to the attendant that proper record has been made. The signalmay be a lamp associated with each pair of plugs with which theattendant is provided for completing connections.

A further feature of my invention consists in the provision of anoperators register, which may be common to the whole number of pairs ofplugs handled by one operator and which is associated with theplug-circuit in such a way that when a connection is made with any lineand the register of that line actuated the operators register will alsobe actuated. A complete record of the amount of work done by eachoperator is thus automatically made, which also serves as a check uponthe accuracy of the line-registers.

I will describe my invention particularly by referring to theaccompanying drawing, which is a diagram illustrating the preferredembodiment thereof, and that which I regard as new will be pointed outin the appended claims.

The telephone-exchange system illustrated is of a general type which iswell known in the art. Each line has at its substation the usualtelephonic and signaling apparatus, with a switch-hook controlling thecircuits through the same. A source of current is connected with theline at the central office by way of the contacts of a cut-off relay,and a line-relay controllinga subsidiary line-signal (an incandescentlamp) is included in the circuit of the line between the battery and thecontacts of the cut-01f relay. This circuit is controlled by thesubscribers telephone switch-hook in a well-known manner, the removal ofthe telephone-receiver from the hook serving to close the circuit, thusbringing about the display of the line-signal to attract the attentionof the operator. A spring-jack a is provided for the line, having twoline-springs a a connected, respectively, with the limbs l 2 thereof,and a third contact or test ring a This test-ring a is connected toground bya conductor 3, which includes the winding of the cut-0E relayZ). This relay may have a resistance of, say, thirty ohms, In a shuntabout the cut-off relay I provide an electromagnetic toll-counter orconnection-register 0, comprising a magnet c of comparatively highresistance-say five hundred ohms-and an armature c for said magnet,connected with and adapted to actuate a recording-train. Each separateimpulse of current received by the magnet causes a registration by there cording-train. Connection-registers of this type are known in the artand do not require detailed description. I have used a conventionalillustration which is well understood. The armature c? of theconnection-register is adapted when drawn up to close a contact 0'.

This contact controls a path 5 to ground, shunting the high-resistancemagnet c with a low resistance d, which maybe thirty ohms.

The central-office attendant or operator is provided with the usualpairs of plugs with link conductors uniting the members of each pair forconnecting any two lines together by plugging into the spring-jacks ofsuch lines. A pair of such plugs, with their cord-circuit, isillustrated in the diagram. The plug 6 is the answering-plug, andplugfis the callingplug. Each plug has three contact portions insulatedfrom one another and adapted,when the plug is inserted in a spring-jack,to make engagement with the three contact portions of the jack. The tipand ring contacts 6' e of the answering-plug e are connected by linkconductors 6 7, respectively, with the tip and ring contacts ff of itsmate or calling-plug f, the windings of a repeating-coil beinginterposed in the plug-circuitin the usual manner. A central battery gis bridged across the conductors 6 7 between the windings of therepeating-coil, and one side of the batterythe side which is connectedto the conductor 6-is connected to earth. This battery is preferably astorage battery, adapted to supply an indefinite amount of current at apressure pf about twenty volts. The magnet of a supervisory relay isincluded in the conductor 7 between the battery 9 and the ring-contact eof the answering-plug. The

shank or third contact a of the answeringplug is connected with the freepole of the battery g by a conductor 8, which includes, serially, asubsidiary signal-lamp 't' and a resistance-coil 7c of, say, one hundredohms. The supervisory relay h is adapted when excited to close alow-resistance shunt 9 about the signal-lamp 't', (which preferably hasa resistance of about one hundred and twenty ohms,) said shuntcontaining a resistance Z of about forty ohms.

1 provide a conductor 10, connecting the third contact or shank e of theansweringplug with the free pole of battery g, shunting the lamp and theresistance 70. This shunt-path 10 is of very low resistance and isadapted to be closed by a manually-operated key or other switch m. Asignallamp n and v a connection-register 0 are connected in multiplebranches of the circuit 10, and each of these devices has a resistanceof only a few ohms.

It is understood, of course, that the operator is provided with theusual telephone apparatus for listening in and the suitable calling-keysassociated with each pair of plugs; but these devices form no part ofthis invention and are not illustrated.

The operation of the system is as follows: The operator having noticedsubscriber As call signal-lamp, which has been lighted in the usual wayas a result of the removal of his-telephone-receiver from itsswitch-hook, answers the call by inserting her answeringplug 6 in theanswering-jack a of the line,

connects her telephonein circuit, and in quires the number of thesubscriber with whom connection is desired. When she has obtained thisinformation, she inserts the other plug, f, of the pair in thespring-jack of the called line and signals the called station. Thenhaving completed the connection, (or she may wait until the called partyanswers,) she depresses the key m to operate the connection-register ofthe calling-line, thus making a record of the connection. When theanswering-plug is inserted in the jack a, a circuit is completed fromthe grounded battery 9 of the plug-circuit through conductor 8 to thecontact (2 of the plug, ringcontact a of the jack, and thence inmultiple through the cut-off relayb and the connection-register o toground. The subscribers telephone being off the hook, the supervisoryrelay it Will be excited by current from battery g flowing in theline-circuit thus completed at the substation, and the lamp i will beshunted by the forty ohm resistance Z; but the current flowing in thecircuit 8 3, nevertheless, will not be sufficient at this time to excitethe connection-register c, the current being cut down by the resistance70, but when the operator depresses the key on she closes thelow-resistance shunt 10, which so increases the flow of current that theconnection-register is operated. In drawing up its armature c the magnetc of the connection-register closes thecontact 0 whereby thelow-resistance shunt 5 is closed about the five-hundred-ohm magnet.Owing to the very low resistance of the shunt-path 10 in theplug-circuit, however, sufficient current still flows through the magnetc to keep the armature from falling back, very little force beingrequired to do this. When the shuntpath 5 is closed to ground by theclosing of contact 0 the current flowing in the conductor 10 is soincreased that the signallamp n, hitherto unaffected, will be lighted,thus indicating to the operator that a record of the connection has beenproperly made. At the same time the register 0 is operated. Thisregister may be common to all the pairs of plugs which the operator has,and will thus indicate the total number of connections which she hasmade, while the indi vidual register of each line will indicate thenumber of connections made with that particular line. The generalregister may thus be employed to check the accuracy of registration ofthe different individual line-registers, as well as to record the amountof work done by the operator.

Having thus described my invention, I

claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

1. The combination with telephone-lines extending from substations toacentral-office exchange, of means at the central office for uniting twoof the lines in response to a call from one=of them, aconnection-register or service-meter associated with one of the lines,

IIO

means for actuating said connection-register to record the connection, alocal switchboardcircuit including a signal, and switch contacts,operated by the register in recording the connection, adapted to changethe electrical condition of the local circuit, to cause the display ofsaid signal, as set forth.

2. The combination with a telephone-line having a spring-jack terminalat an exchange switchboard, of a plug and plug-circuit for makingconnection with the line, an electrically-operated connection-registerfor the line, a circuit fol-said call-register established in plugginginto the spring-jack, means in the circuit for operating the register,and a signal before the operator controlled by the register in recordingthe connection, whereby the attendant is informed of the operation ofthe call register, as set forth.

3. The combination with a telephone-line having a spring-jack terminalat a centraloffice switchboard, of an operators plug and plug-circuitfor making connection with the line, an electrically-operatedconnection-register associated with the line and means for actuating thesame, a local switchboard signal-circuit, established in makingconnection with the line, a signal before the operator, included in saidlocal circuit, and switch contacts operated by the register in recordingthe connection, controlling the electrical con dition of the said localsignal-circuit, whereby the operation of the subscribersconnection-register is indicated by said signal, as described.

4. The combination with a telephone-line having a spring-jack terminalat a central office switchboard, of an operators plug and plug-circuitfor making connection with theline, an electrically-operatedconnection-register for the line, a circuit for said registerestablished in contacts of the plug and springjack, a switch controllingthe electrical condition of the circuit to operate theconnection-register, a signal in the circuit adapted to respond to anincrease of current, and a shunt closed by the connection-resister inrecording the connection, whereby the signal is displayed when theregister operates, as described.

5. The combination with a telephone-line having a spring-jack terminalat a central office, and an 'operators plug and plug-circuit for makingconnection with the line, of a connection-register for the line and acircuit ineluding said register with a source of current, established inmaking connection with the line, a resistance in the circuit, a shuntabout the resistance and a switch for closing said shunt, whereby theregister is operated by the increased current, switchmontacts operatedby the register, a shunt closed by said switch-contacts in the operationof the register, and a signal device in the circuit, responsive to theincreased current when the register operates, substantially as setforth.

6. The combination with telephone-lines extending from substations tospring-jacks at a central-ofliice switchboard, of an operatorsplug-circuit at the switchboard for making temporary connection with anyof said lines, a local circuit including a source of current,established in registering contacts of one of the plugs and thespring-jack of any line, a subscribers service-meter for each line inthe portion of said local circuit which terminates in the spring-jack ofthat line, a switch m adapted to change the electrical condition of thecircuit to operate the subscribers servicemeter, and an operatorsgeneral service-meter connected with the plug-circuit portion of saidlocal circuit, responsive to the changes produced by said switch,whereby each connection registered upon the subscribersimeters of linesto which the plug-circuit is connected, is registered also upon theoperators general meter.

7. The combination with subscribers telephone-lines terminating inspring-jacks at an exchange-switchboard, of a service-meter associatedwith each line, an operators plugcircuit for uniting said lines, acircuit for the service-meter established in registering contacts of aplug and the spring-jack of a line in making connection therewith, meansfor changing the electrical condition of said local circuit to actuatethe service-1neter, and an operators service-meter in the portion of thelocal circuit associated with the plug, responsive to current changes inthe circuit, whereby the first-mentioned service-meter and the operatorsmeter are simultaneously operated.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 24th day ofNovember, A. D. 1900. CHARLES E. SGRIBNER.

Witnesses:

ELLA EDLER, F, J. HOLMES.

